


he has a crush on you

by owlsshadows



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 10:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20851856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlsshadows/pseuds/owlsshadows
Summary: Silent, like a raindrop falling from a spider’s net, Tsukishima’s heartstrings give out a pang.In which Tsukishima gets finally enlightened as to why Nishinoya jumps him after every nice play.





	he has a crush on you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fish_wifey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/gifts).

> Written for my 800 followers drabble giveaway on tumblr, with the exception that as Pon's birthday was right around the time I started working on these prompts, I decided that I will write a little bit more than a drabble for her... ho boi was I not ready for how long it actually took.
> 
> TsukiNoya + "the Nishinoya woo antics"

The ball barely touches the ground, the realization that they have won the match not yet fully registering but Nishinoya is already on the move. He launches himself into Tsukishima with unparalleled force, squeezing the air out of the middle blocker’s lungs and deafening him with his roar of victory. He arrives together with the whistle signaling the end of the match, quick as lightning and loud as thunder; he wreaks havoc and disappears, running off to hug the benchwarmers flooding the court.

They won their ticket to Nationals.

“Ouch,” Tsukishima says belatedly, painfully rubbing his side.

“Hahhaha,” Hinata laughs, standing on wobbly knees as he looks after their libero. “The Nishinoya woo antics are as crazy as ever.”

“The what?” Tsukishima asks, massaging his nose where his sports glasses pressed into it.

“The  _ Nishinoya woo antics _ ,” Hinata repeats, smiling brightly like the sun. “Tackle and bite! Tanaka-senpai says that’s how Noya-senpai flirts!” he continues, oblivious to the rapid deterioration he causes in Tsukishima’s mental state.

“Flirts?” Tsukishima huffs unbelievingly.

“Flirts!” Hinata walks past him, giving him a curious glance. “Wait, didn’t you know? He has a crush on you.”

_ “Huh?” _ Tsukishima asks, and for once he is glad that the short middle blocker is already buried under a pile of players, for his dumb reaction is not heard by anyone. His relief is short-lived though as Yamaguchi, that traitor reaches out to him and drags him on top of the pile of happy, albeit very sweaty teenage boys.

It’s only later, once they have returned to the changing room, that Tsukishima’s thoughts wander back to what Hinata had said.

_ He has a crush on you. _

Tsukishima is certain that the whole thing is a misunderstanding, a mistake on part of Tanaka and Hinata, two totally inexperienced individuals when it comes to the matters of love. First of all, Nishinoya had always been a very straightforward guy. If he liked anyone, he would tell them, just as he has always been vocal about his admiration of Shimizu-san. 

Secondly… Tsukishima had never noticed Nishinoya watching over him apart from what is necessary during practice or matches. He never behaved the way he does with Shimizu-san, either: no stuttering, blushing, being flustered over the most basic of interactions.

It must be that Hinata’s mistaken, Tsukishima concludes by the time he changes back to his casual clothes. Yet, he can’t help but glance over at the libero one last time before he steps out of the changing room. His hand freezes mid-motion pulling his headphones over his ears, for their eyes meet and Nishinoya stares back at him.

Silent, like a raindrop falling from a spider’s net, Tsukishima’s heartstrings give out a  _ pang _ .

*

The first school day after the Nationals is strange. Tsukishima is followed by murmurs on the corridors and his classmates walk up to his desk even after he had put on his headphones -- the absolute “do not disturb” sign -- to congratulate him. He dislikes this invasion of his private space; he dislikes when the teacher calls him out, too, to solve a maths problem only to have him stand in front of the class to compliment him on his achievement in volleyball. Unsolicited comments, unwanted attention, being put on a pedestal… Tsukishima hates it all. Uneasiness sprouts in his guts extends its branches to his heart, his throat, his stomach.

As much as he teased Hinata over his bathroom adventures during tournament time, he would never live if Hinata caught him now.

He feels worn out by the afternoon, so much that he honestly considers skipping practice until he remembers that the third years are retiring from the club. This is the last practice they have together as a team.

Sentimentalism is not a frequent or welcome visitor at Tsukishima's, but he allows himself to feel touched upon entering the gym. 

The third years are already there, eyes sharp and smiles wicked (except for Azumane; Tsukishima doubts Azumane could look anything but innocent and pure off-court), determined to retire from the club with a bang.

“Three on three,“ Sawamura announces. “Us, third years, against all of you.“

“The teams will be decided by rock-paper-scissors!“ Sugawara chimes in.

Tsukishima doesn't like the sound of it -- three on three matches mean lots of work, and he is already too tired mentally -- but he walks up to the others without a word of complaint. As the brand new captain, Ennoshita gets to call for their hand signs, and Tsukishima chooses what seems to be the least effort to make -- 'paper'.

“We have three, three and three! Wow! Not bad at first try!“ Sugawara walks around them, looping people with matching hand signs together. 

Tsukishima snorts as he watches Hinata and Tanaka ushered to one side by Sugawara's thin yet deft hands, as the two loud idiots immediately agree on 'rock' being the one and only option to pick in rock-paper-scissors -- but his laugh gets cut short when Sugawara grabs his wrist (with surprising power) and slaps it on top of another, smaller, slimmer hand.

Nishinoya stares up at him with those huge, golden eyes that have nothing to hide, and Tsukishima's stomach churns.

“Team Paper?“ Ennoshita steps next to them, raising his hand.

“Chikara!“ Nishinoya perks up immediately, high-fiving their soon-to-be captain.

“Senpai,“ Tsukishima nods.

“Good,“ Ennoshita says. “I don't have to worry about my performance too much if I'm with the Total Defense Duo.“

“Don't devalue yourself, Chikara,“ Nishinoya says loud and clear, voice echoing in Tsukishima's chest as if someone had stolen his internal organs and left nothing but the void there, “I can pick up the balls, but it's up to you two to get us points.“

“Alright, alright,” Ennoshita nods, smiling at them widely. “As future captain, I’m not supposed to go down without a fight.”

“We won’t go down!” Nishinoya asserts. “We will win!”

“I, too, plan to win,” Tsukishima nods.

As the teams divide and start discussing strategies, the third years step onto the court to warm up. While Ennoshita discusses with Nishinoya the options for his overhead passes, Tsukishima watches over the other formations from the corner of his eyes.

Team Rock, complemented with Kinoshita, seems to be the exact dumpster fire Tsukishima had expected it to be, and he can't help but sympathize a little with the quietest person in the group (granted that Kinoshita is far from being meek and gullible himself).

Team Scissors is an interesting assortment of people who don't talk much; where Yamaguchi is flustered, Kageyama is confused and Narita may just be a little bit at a loss about how to handle them both. They don't do much, apart from standing in a line, awkwardly inspecting the court where Azumane had smashed down another arm-tearing spike.

“Do you need help taping your fingers?“ asks a voice drawing Tsukishima's attention back to his own team. Nishinoya stares up at him earnestly, with those gigantic eyes that Tsukishima has difficulty tear himself away from.

“Hn,” he nods, cursing himself. 

He thought he was better than this; that he he was above such superficial things as crushes but at the current state of things, he is swiftly falling for Nishinoya. 

It is not the  _ woo tactics _ , as Hinata called it, but Nishinoya’s genuine attentiveness, his unbiased pride in his teammates and the extreme conviction that rings in his voice as he talks about beating Kamomedai next year that draws Tsukishima’s attention, and he finds the mannerisms, which would usually make him annoyed, endearing. Gradually, he catches himself teasing Nishinoya less, trading the snarky remarks to fond gazes -- and when his eyes meet Nishinoya’s he feels a sinking feeling in his stomach as if he had just taken a ride on a roller coaster.

Without him noticing when, how and why, the concept of  _ Nishinoya Yuu, potential love interest _ has nested itself to the edges of his conscious, constantly probing his mind.

“This is bad,” he murmurs.

“What?” Nishinoya blinks up at him. “Am I doing something wrong?“

“Huh? No,” Tsukishima shakes his head. “It’s not about… Uhm.”

Nishinoya watches him, eyes squinting the slightest in doubt. “What is bad then?”

_ He has a crush on you. _

Tsukishima takes the longest of inhales -- the one he usually takes before he offers his help for Hinata or Kageyama -- the one that marks that he is about to commit something he will regret later.

“Senpai,” he starts. His nerves get the worst of him, and he squeezes the hand taping his fingers. “Do you really have a crush on me?”

“I do,” Nishinoya says, expression unchanging.

“I see,” Tsukishima lets out a sigh. “I knew Hinata was mistaken… wait,  _ what?! _ ”

“I do,” Nishinoya repeats, smiling up to Tsukishima, “have a crush on you.”

The asteroid which caused the extinction of dinosaurs was approximately 10 kilometres in diameter. The smile that ended the life of Tsukishima Kei was 10 centimetres at most.

“Ennoshita-san,” Tsukishima says, his voice a pitch higher than he would like it to be.

“Yeah?” their future captain asks, raising his head from the bag he had been diving in deep, looking for something.

“Can you ask for our team to challenge the third years last, Nishinoya-senpai and I have something urgent to discuss.”

“Right now?” Ennoshita asks. “Can’t it wait…”

“My apologies, Chikara,” Nishinoya cuts in, and the way he stands in front of Tsukishima makes him look so  _ cool _ . “I’m afraid I said something troubling to Tsukishima.”

Ennoshita raises a brow in reply; his expression changing from distant, almost professional and captain-y to one with barely disguised mischief, showcasing their camaraderie. For a split second, Tsukishima feels jealous of the closeness the second years have, before his sole point of focus becomes the thin hand grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the equipment room.

Between the piles of tatami mats and crates of balls, in the limited space smelling of magnesium and pain relief patches, Nishinoya’s eyes sparkle in the light filtering through the open door, and Tsukishima finds his heart jumping up to his throat, effectively blocking both his ability to breathe and speak.

This leaves Nishinoya with the burden to restart the conversation. “I’m sorry,” is the first thing he says, letting go of Tsukishima’s hand at the same time. “I realise that admitting my crush on you was basically… a confession,” he gives out a nervous laugh, so uncharacteristic for Nishinoya that Tsukishima’s heart climbs higher, beating right beside his ears, close to effectively deafening him.

“I asked,” he mumbles. His voice comes out barely as a whisper, still, Nishinoya picks it up.

“Of course you did!” Nishinoya argues. “I must have made your life uncomfortable, being so pushy all the time. I would like to apologize for imposing on you with all this forced skinship. I know I overstepped a line.”

“No, it’s… wait, that’s actually true,” Tsukishima replies, heart jumping back to its original place as his brain finally returns to command. “I never looked at it this way, but senpai, you were basically jumping me at every possible occasion.”

“I was, wasn’t I?” Nishinoya says somberly.

“That’s bad, you know,” Tsukishima continues, a little haughty from finding the high ground. “I understand now why Shimizu-san slapped you.”

“Do you want to slap me, too?” Nishinoya offers. “Would that make it better?”

“No. And no. I don’t feel… bad, or uncomfortable,” Tsukishima says slowly, glancing at the open door then back to Nishinoya. “I don’t mind your woo antics, most of the time. There could be a little less biting, though. But ugh… that’s not my point,” he squeezes his hands into fists by his side. 

Nishinoya, for once, has the tact to wait.

“My point is… you having a crush on me is bad news, because I think I also have a crush on you.”

Nishinoya’s jaw drops visibly; his eyes turn to the size of saucepans and he reaches out to find support in one of the ball crates. The reaction is a little too theatrical for Tsukishima’s tastes -- but what are tastes anymore when he has already fallen for this pocket sized idiot who wears idiotic idioms on his t-shirts and gives names to his flashier saves.

“I’m afraid that our feelings, being requited, could end up compromising the team’s efforts,” Tsukishima continues. “But on the other hand, I just really want to kiss you, senpai.”

“Yeah,” Nishinoya says breathless. “Do it. We will deal with the complications later.”

It’s all too enticing -- the lighting and the physical closeness, the awe in Nishinoya’s eyes and the wet glistening of Nishinoya’s lips as he licks them. Tsukishima needs to strengthen his resolve not to give in to the temptation.

“Ennoshita-san is waiting for us,” he says albeit unwillingly.

He can almost hear ‘Chikara can wait’ in the heated, greedy look Nishinoya gives him, and he is on the verge of giving up, bending his spine ever so slightly to close the distance between them, when Nishinoya suddenly turns on his heels, clearing his throat.

“You’re right,” he says. “I haven’t earned the rights to kiss you yet anyway.”

“What kind of rights…?” Tsukishima starts perplexed.

“Wait for me after practice, Tsukishima,” Nishinoya replies, stepping out the door. “Please,” he adds, and, glancing back at Tsukishima over his shoulder, he flashes his most brilliant smile. “I would like to walk you home.”

_ He has a crush on you,  _ echoes in Tsukishima.

“Right,” he says, following in his senpai’s footsteps. “But I don’t live in walking distance, you know. Shouldn’t I walk you home instead?”

Nishinoya sends him a calculating look. “Do I get to hold your hand?”

“Hn,” Tsukishima approves. “When will I get to kiss you, though?” he questions.

“Once I earn it,” Nishinoya replies.

“And when will that be?”

“When I confess. Properly. As it should be.”

“I feel you take this way too seriously,” Tsukishima chuckles.

“Does that bother you?” Nishinoya asks, looking dead serious.

Tsukishima takes a moment to reply. He tries to imagine Nishinoya, working on their relationship with the same dedication he has for volleyball, and his chest fills with an unfamiliar, dizzy warmth. It does not invalidate his worries, nor does it change his wary opinion on in-team relationships -- but for the moment, it outweighs them.

“No,” he says. “It makes me glad.”


End file.
